BMW to Unveil Level-5 Self-Driving Car by 2021

Electric cars are old news, and autonomous cars are on the horizon. These days, automakers are fighting tooth and nail to unveil their technology first.

While it's no secret that BMW hasn't been at the forefront of conversations about autonomous technology, no one else seems to be developing a fully-functioning Level-5 self-driving car, either.

The levels of vehicular autonomy range from 1-5 and increase in their abilities to drive themselves without human interaction. Simply put, Level-1 needs complete human operation, whereas Level-5 is full autonomy, with the ability to navigate any street or situation without driver input. In Level-5 concept cars, automakers actually have the option to put the steering wheel back into the dashboard because of the lack of necessity for it. While this type of technology seems impossible in just four years, BMW claims that they will make it happen.

"We are on the way to deliver a car in 2021 with Level 3, 4 and 5," said Elmar Frickenstein, BMW's Senior Vice President for Autonomous Driving, at a panel discussion in Berlin earlier this week.

BMW is certain that by 2021 they will have different levels of autonomy for different situations and customers. For instance, a customer with a long work commute might opt to pay for a Level-5 autonomous car versus someone who travels less frequent. However, Level-3 and 4 are considered much more attainable in the near future. Level-3 still requires driver assistance, but their intervention is only needed in certain situations and they aren't obligated to be watching the road constantly. Level-4 is the first level of full autonomy, meaning it will be capable of handling an entire trip without any driver assistance, just not possible in all road conditions and environments.

In one of our recent blogs about BMW's partnership with Intel and Mobileye, two highly-advanced tech companies developing the software which will make full autonomy possible, you can read more about the details of this technology and how it can be achieved by 2021.